Some boats carry passengers. This one carried presidents.
The Honey Fitz is a 93-foot wooden yacht built in 1931. She served five U.S. Presidents, from Truman through Nixon, and she's the last presidential yacht still in private hands and actively cruising. She was decommissioned and sold to a private owner in 1971, six years before President Carter closed out the presidential yacht program by selling the Sequoia. Of the vessels that carried presidents, the Honey Fitz is the one still running.
Her current owner, Charles Modica, restored her to the condition she was in during the Kennedy administration. Canvas Designers Inc. handled the soft goods and enclosure fabrication, a project that required every material choice to carry the weight of the vessel's history.
This is the story of that work.
A Boat That Became A Floating White House
The vessel started life as a private yacht named Lenore, built by Defoe Boat & Motor Works for Montgomery Ward chairman Sewell Avery. Her story takes a turn during World War II. She was requisitioned in 1942, pressed into Coast Guard service as a picket patrol boat, designated CG-92004, and stationed at Fort Tilden. A .50 caliber machine gun was mounted above the dining room. Depth charges were loaded on deck. War diaries from the National Archives include latitude and longitude coordinates of German U-boat sightings from her patrols off the coast.
After the war, she became the president's personal vessel.
Each president used her differently. Eisenhower treated her as what the crew called "a floating locker room." He'd cruise up the Potomac to play golf, shoot skeet off the bow on the way back, then shower and change in the Master Stateroom before heading back to work at the White House. He named the boat Barbara Anne after his granddaughter.
Kennedy made her a family retreat. He renamed her Honey Fitz after his maternal grandfather, John Francis "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald, the charismatic Boston mayor known for singing Irish songs at every occasion. The boat became an extension of the Kennedy compound, cruising the waters off Palm Beach and Hyannis Port.
Most of the photos from that era show Kennedy in the same spot: his blue chair on the aft deck, reading the paper, cigar in hand, feet propped on a stool. He actually had part of the aft deck roof cut away so he could get more sun. It was put back during the Johnson administration, but that tells you something about how Kennedy used the boat. This wasn't a formal space. It was where the president went to think.
Jackie Kennedy's Design Blueprint
When the Kennedys took over the yacht, Jackie put her personal stamp on the interiors. She sketched the sofa designs herself and handed them to a carpenter. Her notes were specific: blue fabric with white piping throughout the entire vessel.
The Restoration
Captain Greg Albritton and Captain Katelyn Kiefer, who've been with the vessel for 12 and 9 years respectively, were deeply involved in the restoration process. They sourced archival photos from the National Archives and Mystic Seaport, chased down references from digitized war diaries, and worked alongside carpenters and fabricators to verify every detail against Kennedy-era photographs.
The challenge with a boat this old is that nothing is standard. A wooden hull that's been in the water since 1931 doesn't have straight lines or square angles. The restoration had to meet the vessel where it actually was, not where blueprints said it should be.
The Upholstery
Perennials Rough and Rowdy in Denim was selected as the primary upholstery fabric — a solution-dyed acrylic engineered to look and feel like natural denim while delivering the UV resistance, colorfastness and cleanability that marine environments demand. Paired with Perennials Blanca Welt and Sunbrella Horizon White for the welt cord, it delivers the exact blue-with-white-piping combination Jackie Kennedy specified, across the aft deck benches, the salon sofas and the topside lounging areas.
The JFK Blue Chair
The chair where the president sat reading his paper and smoking his cigar isn't furniture. It's an artifact. The original couldn't be altered, but the vessel needed to keep operating as a working boat.
Canvas Designers fabricated custom snap-on slipcovers in Rough and Rowdy Denim with Blanca Welt. The original chair stays protected underneath. The slipcovers take the daily wear. It's the right answer to a problem that doesn't have a perfect solution: how do you honor history while living in it?
The Aft Deck Enclosure
This was the most complex fabrication challenge on the project. A 15-panel enclosure system using Serge Ferrari Stamoid Top in Snow White for the solid panels and O'Sullivan Regalite Firma for the clear vinyl windows.
The team used 3D modeling technology to map every curve of the hardtop and gap tower before cutting the first panel. On a hull this old, measurements taken by hand won't capture the subtle warping and shifting that's happened over nine decades. The 3D approach gave the CAD team the precision they needed to get 15 panels to align on surfaces that haven't been true since the boat was launched.
Serge Ferrari Stamoid Light was used for secondary enclosure panels where flexibility mattered more than structure, and Serge Ferrari Solstice 86 mesh provided shading that reduces heat and glare without blocking sightlines.
The Master Stateroom
The headliner in the only stateroom on board, the same room Eisenhower used as his personal locker room, had served its time. Voyager Vinyl from Nautolex delivered the right combination of visual warmth and marine-grade performance for a space that carries presidential history.
The Materials
- Rough and Rowdy Denim (Perennials Fabrics) — Primary upholstery throughout. Solution-dyed acrylic with the hand of natural denim and the durability of an engineered textile.
- Blanca Welt (Perennials Fabrics) — Accent trim throughout. The white piping Jackie Kennedy specified in her original sketches.
- Horizon White (Sunbrella) — Welt cord textile.
- Stamoid Top, Snow White (Serge Ferrari) — Aft enclosure and weather curtains.
- Stamoid Light (Serge Ferrari) — Secondary enclosure panels, lighter weight for flexibility.
- Regalite Firma (O'Sullivan Films) — Clear vinyl for the 15-panel enclosure windows.
- Solstice 86, White (Serge Ferrari) — Mesh shading, open weave that reduces heat and glare.
- Voyager Vinyl (Nautolex) — Master Stateroom headliner.
Still On The Water
Charles Modica saved the Honey Fitz. Captain Greg and Captain Katelyn brought her history back to life. Canvas Designers gave her the materials to carry that history forward.
The Honey Fitz is docked at the Pelican Club in Jupiter, Florida, and she still turns heads every time she leaves the dock. Captain Greg says she's probably the most photographed thing in all of Palm Beach County.
That's the point. The last presidential yacht still cruising isn't behind a velvet rope. She's on the water, looking very much like she did when a young president sat in his blue chair on the aft deck, reading the morning paper in the Florida sun.
Photography: Carmel Brantley.
The Team
Design: Corey Degroff. Installation: Robby Erickson.
Canvas Designers Inc., Riviera Beach, Florida.